Australians excel at mind games (21 June 1999)

21 June 1999

Australians excel at mind games

Mark Nicholas

The funny thing about having switched horses before the last hurdle, about a Thursday-night change of allegiance from Australia to Pakistan, is that anyone even remotely in their right mind should back against the Australian cricket team.

The suspicion - the fact, indeed - was that Australia had reached Lord's without playing their best cricket and that, in contrast, Pakistan were certainly playing theirs. This was ignoring the point that, unlike most sportsmen or sports teams, Pakistan frequently follow their best with their worst and that the Australians rise to the occasion with awesome regularity.

Which, in a sentence or two, sums up dreary old yesterday. One team hit their straps, as they say in Australia, the other never made it out of the blocks, as they say anywhere. Topping last week's intrigue was always going to be tricky. As it turned out, Pakistan barely bothered to try.

Why is it that Australia are so damned difficult to beat? Repeatedly, during the last week, Shane Warne has emphasised that this is Australia's best one-day team, that contrary to the critics, no one could improve it - not Michael Slater, not Greg Blewett nor Jason Gillespie. This may be so, but if it were not, Warne would be the last to tell you. He's the master of con. He wouldn't dream of talking his own blokes down, only up, up and up again. So high, in fact, that he believes it himself, true or false. Which, of course, is his motivation and sports psychology in its purest form, driven by self-belief and the unwavering support of those around you. Imagine that mental approach infiltrating every inch of the dressing room, galvanising the 'blokes' who are less secure and drifting on down the corridor to the opponents who wait to play them.

Warne also said, after the Headingley epic eight days ago, that the Australians are tougher than anyone else and that the 'big points' go their way because they've got the bottle to confront them full on. He's probably right, and says so in public, partly to remind the opposition and pertinently for the benefit of his own team, for whom the reminder does no harm.

That game at Headingley hung on Herschelle Gibbs' monumental boo-boo, on a dropped dolly, which told Steve Waugh all he needed to know about the genie of the day. Australia responded to their fortune by going on the offensive and shouting from the rooftops that they couldn't wait for another crack. Bring 'em on, your Donalds, your Pollocks and Uncle Tom Cobbleigh, if he'd like a go. Anyone you fancy, but we're on our way to Lord's, mate, come what may. It's bravado and it's cocky as hell but it's the way they are, and it works.

To a degree, the extrovert Warne is a mouthpiece for his less extravagant captain. Steve Waugh has a silent strength, Shane Warne a deafening ego. These attributes complement each other well - though it remains a moot point who should be captain and vice-captain - and are much of the reason behind the team's success. Have been for ages, in fact, first under Allan Border's uncomplicated governance, then alongside Mark Taylor's shrewd eye, and now for themselves.

For years, Australian cricketers have fed off Waugh's sheer force of will and Warne's irresistible skill. Nine of the World Cup-winning team are between Warne's age, 29, and Waugh's age, 33. Adam Gilchrist, who is 27, has played cricket for two hugely powerful states, New South Wales and Western Australia, and Ricky Ponting, who is 24 and is still Australia's most precociously talented batsman, have both been swiftly inducted. There was much talk of South African teamwork and spirit but the Australians have this, too, though less obviously because of their greater collection of natural talent which means that individuals often dominate.

In the old days, Australian cricketers didn't go on much beyond 30. They had another life which earned them a crust so they packed in playing before they were past working. England had experienced old pros who dug the team out of the mire; Australia had youth and flair.

These days, with plenty of money in the international game, the Australians are going on longer. They train hard, eat the right things - most of them, anyway - and are as fit and athletic as 25-year-olds. So they've got the lot - flair, glamour, cussedness, experience and nous. Never mind the old idea that Australia lead the way in exposing youth, these blokes are matured and harder to beat for it, which is why they are the best in the long game and now the short game, too.

South Africa may dispute this for they did not 'lose' the match that they thought, wrongly as it turned out, mattered most. South Africa, though, for an infuriatingly unfathomable reason, were not meant to win. They couldn't have been, not with the sequence of events which went against them. It was Australia's destiny to reach their peak of performance, to play a perfect match at exactly the right time.

This is telling the world of cricket something. It is saying that although the sub-continent is becoming the centre of the game's interest and direction, the culture for cricket in Australia not only remains undiminished but is improving and should lead the global development of the game with its principles.

In short, if you can spin the ball, swing the ball or bowl it fast, if you can bat with attacking intent and lead with imagination and an unwavering belief you are on the right track, then, if you win the mind games, you can conquer the world.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph